Bodie drank deeply and waited. Lucie stared around the table, surprise descending onto her face. “I am used to more questions after I’ve finished speaking.”
“We’re allowed to talk now?” Cassidy asked. “Sorry, girl, I missed that memo.”
“Well, what is your question, Miss Coleman?”
Bodie saw not even the merest hint of humor in Lucie Boom’s expression. The girl was all work, all of the time. He wondered briefly if she possessed an extremely thick skin or if sarcasm, anger, and humor just washed right off her slim shoulders like a gallon of water.
He was pretty sure it was the latter. “The statues,” he said quickly. “Where do they fit in?”
“Yes, well, the statues are…” She paused and then sighed. “The missing link? It sounds corny, I know, but there you are. How else could nine statues made by the same man at the same time appear on two far-apart and wholly different continents?”
“Luck?” Gunn ventured.
“Unlikely. So, let’s skip past the Phoenicians, who were real, and yet nobody questions the fact that their mythology was derived from the same source as Atlantis. Their gods went by the same names as the old kings of Atlantis, and they had quite an affinity with Poseidon. A man called Sanchuniathon was a Phoenician author and wrote three works in the ancient language, which, unfortunately, are now lost. This man supposedly wrote before the Trojan War and around the time of Moses.”
“Supposedly?” Heidi ventured.
“Like everything surrounding Atlantis,” Lucie said with a smile, “the man’s words, his accounts, and even his very existence are disputed. One could almost imagine a conspiracy theory designed to place a muzzle on the truth that Atlantis once existed.”
Bodie finished the steak. “What an outrageous idea.”
“Truly. Sanchuniathon used sacred lore, writing discovered in shrines and inscriptions on pillars in Phoenician temples, to expose both a new and ancient truth — that the gods were once real men, human beings who were worthy of worship.”
“I’ve heard that recently,” Jemma put in.
Lucie ignored her. “So the Phoenicians can’t be the Atlanteans, as some scholars once thought. But the Phoenicians could be the ancestors of the Atlanteans, as well as the race who brought knowledge, wisdom, and education to Egypt, Greece, and Judaea.”
“I thought we were skipping the Phoenicians,” Gunn said blithely.
“I just did,” Lucie said. “And again, the interruption is not welcome. According to my research, the statues are nine in number, which, along with ten, is an important Atlantean number. They represent the god Baal, another cross-related deity. Now to the best part… the symbols and ancient script that appear around the statues and along the base. When the first four were found in the high Azores, this lettering meant nothing — mere figurative rubbish, surprising in itself. Nobody ever thought it might be coded, with the key to the code placed on the other statues.”
She paused. “Which it was.”
She looked around expectantly. “And I have decoded it.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“What does it say?” Bodie asked immediately.
“That, I can’t answer,” Lucie told them. “At least not here. I would have to show you the statues and explain the script. In essence, though, the nine statues are one single message, made by a Phoenician and written in that language — a Phoenician who derived from the very shores of Atlantis itself.”
“I see now,” Gunn said, “why you regaled us with the Phoenician story. It’s a long-held belief that the Phoenicians were the founders of all our modern knowledge as well as the last remnants of destroyed Atlantis.”
“Any more questions?” Lucie had the habit of either ignoring or accepting statements without recognition. Bodie wondered if it was an intelligence thing… or maybe just the result of a lifetime of being cooped up with dusty old books.
“I have one,” Cross said. “Can we get another man on the team? With four women against just the two of us I’m feeling a little outnumbered.”
“You mean outmatched,” Cassidy said. “Outsmarted.”
Bodie was watching Gunn, the third man on the team, but the nerd never even heard the comment so intent was he on the screen before him. Bodie left him lost in the world he preferred, and shared a private smile with Cross.
“If you can’t tell us what the statues say, Lucie,” he said, “can you tell us what we’re supposed to do next?”
Lucie nodded quickly, her blonde ponytail bouncing up and down, up and down. “Leave for Europe,” she said. “That’s a good start since we’re definitely headed in that direction.”
“Europe?” Heidi motioned at the waitress and mouthed “check.” “The hunt for the statues’ provenance leads there?”
“Yup. I’ll explain later. I need more time to narrow it down because, as you pointed out, I was already late.”
Heidi made a face. “I guess I did. And I guess you’re coming along for the ride.” She gave Bodie a sidelong glance. “Won’t that be fun.”
Lucie answered seriously, “I really hope so. I haven’t been on holiday — what you guys call vacation — for two years now.”
Cassidy let out a raucous guffaw. “Oh yeah, girl, don’t you worry. We can all see that.”
Lucie eyed Heidi. “I’m not sure exactly what I need, but I’ll figure it out and let you know on the way.”
Cassidy answered so that only the relic hunters heard. “I know just what you need, hon, but I’ll let you discover that for yourself.”
Bodie laughed and then scraped his chair back. “Shall we?”
“Can’t wait,” Gunn said, looking up. “Let the hunt begin.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Bodie found himself on another plane, taking another journey far too soon. This fast pace was not the life he had become used to. It was like rushing head over heels to investigate shark-infested waters. Where was the careful planning, the long reconnaissance? Where were the blueprints to the bloody building?
Bodie remembered a long time ago, before his parents died, being eight years old and having a great group of friends. It was why now he ached with every fiber in his being to share that again. Back then, the five of them could live a lifetime in one day. Brian, Scott, Jim, and little Darcey. Darcey had been small for her age, but the boys had been big and promised to guard her with their lives. Once, that promise had been tested. Their time together had been relatively short, but, for Bodie at least, it left an impression that lasted for the rest of his life. The Forever Gang, they called themselves, because they imagined their period of fun, and their friendships, lasting forever.